Archive for February, 2012

This weekend will see my dramatic return to racing after 7 months off due to injury…

Ok, well, maybe it won’t be too dramatic… Traumatic may be a better word perhaps. After 7 months without racing I do feel a little rusty and that means apprehensive. But my training has gone really well since I recovered from my November knee surgery. I was obviously horribly unfit having not run or cycled for 5 months, and am still on the way back to full fitness. This race will serve as a bit of a test for Ironman South Africa in April, which I am sure I will be at 100% for. And with some of the best names in the sport vying for one of the biggest prize purses, it certainly will be a test!

But I am enjoying my training like never before and looking forward to simply being able to race again. And that excitement and joy at being able to race again will outweigh my nerves on race day I am sure. And of course I get to travel with Jodie, who is in far better shape than me and equally excited at being back from injury. Should be a fun trip!

Looking forward to an exciting race and being part of it …hopefully a big part …near the front …in the money. Watch this space.

This morning I finished a hard track session. It was my best run session for over 6 months and felt good to get running again properly. It has been a long journey back to here and you forget how great it feels to push yourself and have that specific total body fatigue that only running can induce. Back on track. Back on the track.

A couple weeks ago I actually did my first track session, but I didn’t come out of it feeling quite so positive. My knee had hurt whilst running. Nothing serious, and no lingering effects afterwards, just a little discomfort whilst out there. Just enough to make me worry. Just enough to make me wonder if the knee op worked. Just enough to make me wonder if a niggling knee would be my constant companion for the rest of my career. I spoke to Doc and he said I am just letting the ghosts of a past injury haunt me. I was not impressed. I did not imagine the pain in my knee. It was very real and to say it was ‘all in my head’ was simply not true. Some caution when coming back from an injury is necessary to prevent a return or a new injury developing due to loss of conditioning.

But a few days later I ran again and sure enough the knee was better. Was it in my head? Was it my injury flaring up? Was it just a ghost? I have been thinking about it and have to the conclusion it was none. It was just a niggle. We get niggle’s all the time. They are part and parcel of being a pro athlete. You have to push the limits, and on that ragged edge between mediocrity and injury is the key to success. Backing off every time there is a niggle won’t get you anywhere. Nor will getting injured every 6 months either, and therein lies the rub…

So Doc was right. It was a ghost. The ghost of injury past. And just like all ghosts, it was not real. It was simply a manifestation of my mind. (Some may disagree here, but I don’t believe in ghosts!) A little niggle which I would usually have ignored (or at least treated and kept going) threatened to derail my return to fitness. I made it bigger than it was. Luckily I had Doc to call. Who you gonna call?